Adjustment means for pivoted elements



A ril 28, 1931. H. M. HESSENBRUCH 1,803,302

ADJUSTMENT MEANS FOR PIVOTED ELEMENTS Filed Nov. 25, 1929 v I J3WITNESSES I v INVENTOR? 9 S g flmazzzzflfifzssennlck mam/v BY A TTORNEI'S.

Patented Apr. 28, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT FFIcE HERMANN M.HESSENBRUGH, or wYNNnwoon; rENNsYLvANIA, AssIG oR To PHILA DELPHIA LAWNMOWER ooMPANY, INC., on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORIORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA f r x i I ADJUSTMENT MEANS FOR; i Ivo nn ELEMENTSApplication filed November 23, 1929, Serial No. 409,221.-

This invention relates to means for effecting adjustments of pivotedelements such, for

example, as the rockably-mounted stationary knives of lawn mowers; saidlmives being adapted for angular movement toward, or away from, therotary cutting-reel.

More particularly the present i1nprovements have reference to a type ofmeans including freely guided adjuster-screws with co-active meansserving to restrain said screws against axial displacement.

The general object of my invention is to furnish a means, of the typereferred to in the preceding paragraph, which is more particularly,although not essentially, adapted to lawn mowers having sheet metal sideplates or frames.

With the just recited and other objects in View, this invention may besaid to comprise the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings,hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims,together with such variations and other applications thereof as willsuggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which said inventionappertains.

In the drawings:

Fig. I is a broken and in part sectional view of portions of a lawnmower illustrating the application of my novel adjustment means to thestationary knife thereo j V Fig. II is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. III is a sectional view, taken as indicated by the arrows IIIIII inFig. I and,

Fig. IV is a perspective view of a nut or looking element hereinafterfurther ex plained.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 5designates a broken portionof one of the usual side plates of a lawnmower, 6 a similar fragmentary part of the rotary cutting-reel, 7 theshaft thereof; and 8, one of the spiral blades composing a part of theaforesaid cutting-reel: all of said parts, with the exception of theside plate 5, not entering into the present improvements other than assubsidiary features.

As best appreciated from Figs. I-III, in-

clusive, the side plate 5 is conveniently of.

sheet-metal, while the stationary knife blade 9 is removably secured byone or more screws 10, to a back 11, having an apertured rocker 12 ateach end,for engagement by the screwthreaded shank of a stud 13,affordedpivotal bearing-at 14, inadownwardly directed lug 15 of the sideplate 5. V v. a

Adjustment of the stationary knife 9 in. an

upward or downward direction, relative to the spiral blade 80f therotary cutting-reel 6, is controlled by means of vertically disposedlongitudinally-movable adjuster-- screws 16 which have free guidance inabut-. ment loops 17 pressed, extruded or otherwise formed, out of theside plate 5. Theseloops or abutmentsl? are preferably located on theinner, face ofthe side plate. 5, and they are.

adjuster screws 16. v V Beneath the loops or abutments 17, eachadjuster-screw 16 is provided with a threadedly engaging nut or lockingelement '18,;

while said screws are cross-cut at 19 for appl catlon ofan ordinaryscrew-driver. QParticular attention is here directed to the lock. ing,elements or nutslSvvhich are convert. 'iently, althoughnot essentially,of-the rectangular .variety each I said 'nut being formed toprovidefagflat side or eccentric face 20-.-

Figs. III and-IVin close proximity to the threaded bore 21. This flatside orface 2O oneac'h nut 18, it is to be remarked, isdesigned to abutthe inner surface of the side plate 5 below a-loop or abutment 17, so asto position the associated adjuster-screw 16 in vertical position, oraxially parallel with the of a sizeto semi-disengagingly embrace the;

side plate 5, as best seen in Fig. III; while likewise serving toeffectively restrain such nuts against rotation.

The lower ends of the adjuster-screw 16 engage the flanking ledgeportions 22 of the rocker 12, to thereby limit movement of thestationary knife blade 9; and it will be. apparent that, when one ofsaid screws is driven down, the nut 18 thereon will be jammed againstthe under face of the associated abutment loop 17 in a manner that locksthe blade 9 at the requisite adjustment relative to the spiral blade 8,when the other adjuster-screw 16 is opposedly driven. It will thus beunderstood that when both adjuster $WS at;

driven home tightly, the stationary knife is rigidly and securely lockedat whatever adjustment it is desired to be set; also that the eccentricfaces 20 of the nuts 18 elfectively maintain the screws in parallelismwith the side plate 5.

From the foregoing the merits and advantages of my present inventionwill be clearly apparent, while it is self-evident that I have provideda compact and effective adjuster means for pivoted elements. Hence I donot limit myself to the precise embodiment illustrated and described,but include all such other adaptations thereof as the scope of thefollowing claims permit, and the prior art allows. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. Adjustment meansfor pivotal elements comprising a bearing member having an integrallyformed abutment loop at each side of the pivot axis, adjuster screwsafforded free guidance in the loops and engaging the pivotal element,and a nut on each screw having an eccentric face engaging with thebearing member to prevent its rotation while maintaining the screw inparallelism to such member with the nut lockingly engaging theassociated abutment.

2. Adjustment means for pivotal elements comprising a sheet metalbearing member having an integrally formed abutment loop at each side ofthe pivot axis, adjuster screws alforded free guidance in the abutmentloops and engaging the pivotal element, and a lock nut on each screwengageable below the associated loop and having a flat side in closeproximity to its threaded bore, said flat side engaging the bearingmember to prevent rotation of the nut while maintaining the screw inaxial parallelism therewith.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, this 14th day of Nov., 1929.

HERMANN M. HESSENBRUCI-I.

